Tired, bewildered, stressed, and happy

Can I feel all of these things at once?  Sure.

Third year started with a (loud) bang for me.  We started off the first week of September with a 6-day intensive that I was totally looking forward to.  It was definitely nice to see classmates again, but I hadn't really thought too hard about the level of content that was going to be covered in those 6 days - they mean it when they say intense!  What struck me most about it, though, was the switch from "Normal" (our first two years) to "abnormal".  It jarred me a bit, to go from figuring out how to get my hands to do the right things when I'm catching a baby, to managing obstetrical emergencies, just like that.

After that, we began our interprofessional placements - a series of 2-4 week placements with other professionals in the field learning clinical skills from them and discovering their role and the unique benefits and demands of being a part of their profession.  What a unique opportunity this really is.  Its a great chance to learn clinical skills more quickly than I would with midwives.  Its also a great chance for me to see how really happy I am to be in midwifery.  I'm placed with a labor and delivery nurse first, and although I've only had a couple of shifts, I'm noticing quite a few differences that make me very thankful that we as midwives have such a wide scope and flexibility so we can maximize continuity of care.  Just when you really get attached to a woman, your shift ends and you might never see her again.  But then again, your shift ends, and your family knows when you expect you - and if you've read any of my previous posts, you'll know how happy they are about that!

Rather unfortunately, we had a major childcare crisis and a threat to my son's safety to deal with after my first day at the hospital when I came to pick him up.  I also was faced with the much-greater reality of relocating for my senior year placement - something that I've always been afraid of, despite being aware that it could be a real possibility, but it now seems to be a much greater one.  Couple that with some OSAP complications as well, and I had me a pretty emotional week.  Thankfully the childcare problem is all cleared up now and the summer-long quest to find a replacement for our much loved (but now far away) home daycare provider came to a close the other day when we met "the one".  Phew!  There's a load off.  I'm also working days this week and got to be part of some really great experiences today, so things are looking up!